1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a roller grill monitoring device that assists convenience store operators in keeping track of elapsed cooking time. More particularly, this invention relates to a roller grill monitoring device that can record the time when hot dogs, sausages or other roller grill food is placed on the grill without detracting from the cleanliness or appearance of the food. At the same time, the invention indicates to the consumer the type of food that is on the grill to enhance in marketing the food.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In this era of fast food, individuals are increasingly dependent on quick service restaurants and convenience stores for a quick meal. Beginning in the 1960's and increasing in popularity ever since, the roller grill became an efficient way to cook and store hot dogs to be made readily available to consumers without being labor intensive. With the advent of roller grills, hot dogs could be prepared without the necessity of the store clerk flipping or rolling the grilled food by hand throughout the day. The development of the gas station/convenience store made this type of food even more widely available and popular.
With more opportunities to sell more hot dogs in these numerous establishments, the industry began offering additional hot dog types such as sausage, a 1/4 pound hot dog, spicy, mild, kielbasa, alternative meat hot dogs such as turkey, beef or soy, and others. All of these foods were still best prepared using the roller grill. Indeed, presently roller grills are still the leading hot dog cooker of choice for national convenience store chains, vending operations and cafeterias. These roller grills can be used on the front serving counter where customers serve themselves or on a back counter where a store employee takes an order from a customer and assembles and serves the food product such as a hot dog.
As noted above, the advantage of the roller grill is that the store operator does not need to continually monitor and roll the hot dogs which frees the employee up for additional tasks. However, a problem arises in that the hot dogs can easily get ignored as the store clerk loses track of the time that each hot dog was originally placed on the grill. This problem becomes even worse with the practice of staggering hot dog placement on the grill. The employee must attempt to remember the time and flavor of each hot dog on the roller grill, and these grills are capable of cooking and holding a very large number of hot dogs. A poorly cooked hot dog can hurt or destroy a consumer's confidence in a particular eating establishment. Moreover, a hot dog which is undercooked or overcooked presents a serious health concern for the consumer, and the U.S. Department of Health has taken a strong interest in this issue.
Recent health and liability concerns have made it important to cook all foods to a predetermined temperature at a predetermined rate. This requirement by the U.S. Department of Health makes it critical that the operator keep track of how long each and every hot dog has been on the roller grill. In addition, with the many different flavors of hot dogs noted above, it is also important that the operator be able to identify the flavor of each and every hot dog on the grill.
There are products on the market for convenience stores and the like to merchandise the various hot dog flavors. These products are made of metal or plastic wire with either a plastic or metal sign area having two legs that extend through the rollers and a further perpendicular leg that passes between different rollers to support the sign. The problem with this type of grill sign is that they are not sanitary. Further, the signs take up too much space on the grill which could be used for cooking. In addition, the metal signs are hot to the touch, and therefore they cannot be moved easily and create a burning hazard to the operator. Not one of the existing devices helps the operator keep track of cooking time or elapsed time.
Despite the critical importance of monitoring cooking time, none of the hot dog signage products adequately keeps track of elapsed cooking time. Some operators, realizing the importance of keeping track of cooking times write the startup times on a piece of masking tape and tape it to the side of the roller grill. These makeshift monitors are unsanitary and inconvenient to use and still fail to keep track of the type and startup time for each individual hot dog or batch of hot dogs on the grill.
Another method for keeping track of hot dogs on the grill is writing the startup times on a clipboard and then checking the clipboard periodically to see if the hot dogs are cooked enough or overcooked. The problem with this method is that it relies heavily on the memory of the operator, and provides no information to the consumer. Thus, the clipboard method is ineffective as a monitor for individual hot dogs, and it is ineffective as a merchandising tool.
Monitors for coffee have been used in convenience stores and cafeterias recently. These monitors clip-onto a coffee pot handle and indicate how long the coffee has been sitting on a warming plate. This is an example of how monitors can be used as a means for food quality control in a fast food environment.
However, there is presently no device that effectively monitors cooking times of each individual hot dog or batch of hot dogs. Moreover, there is no device that both monitors cooking times and identifies the type of hot dog for marketing purposes.